Abstract:
An international team of scientists and industrialists is working at the University of Leicester to develop of a new technique for harnessing the sun's energy.

EnSol AS in Norway has patented a thin film solar cell technology that it is seeking to develop commercially by 2016. The company is now working with experts in the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy to develop the new type of solar cell material that could be coated as a thin film on, for example, windows in buildings to produce power on a large scale.

Professor of Nanotechnology at the University of Leicester, Professor Chris Binns, says the collaboration offers a tremendous opportunity to develop a new method for harnessing solar energy. "The material has been designed by EnSol AS and is based on nanoparticles that can be synthesized in Leicester. In fact, following some initial investment by the company, the equipment we have here at the University of Leicester is uniquely suited in the world to produce small amounts of the material for prototypes."